1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle electronics systems and, more particularly, to the integration of a camera-equipped handheld mobile device with a vehicle's electronic systems, such that the imaging capabilities of the mobile device can be utilized by the vehicle, and vehicle dynamics and other information from the vehicle's systems can be utilized by the mobile device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many modern vehicles include sophisticated electronic systems, including safety, navigation, communication, information, and entertainment systems. The cost of the processing units which host these systems has dropped dramatically, and the application software itself can be included on many of a vehicle manufacturer's models at little additional cost once the application is developed. However, in order to keep vehicle cost down, a manufacturer may not include a camera on lower-cost vehicle models. Or, some vehicle models may have only a rear-view camera, used by a backup assistance system, but not a forward-looking camera for other applications. And some of the aforementioned vehicle systems cannot perform all of their functions without image input from a camera, or could provide more features or functions with image input from an additional camera.
At the same time, personal mobile electronic devices equipped with cameras have become very commonplace. These devices include ordinary cell phones, most new models of which include a camera, as well as more sophisticated personal productivity devices which may feature hundreds of applications, such as navigation and augmented reality applications, in addition to camera and cell phone capabilities. Most camera-equipped mobile devices include both video and still-frame image capture capability. Because the life cycle of mobile electronic devices is much shorter than the life cycle of vehicles, and the cost of mobile electronic devices is much lower than the cost of vehicles, many people have more advanced imaging capability in their phone or mobile device than they have in their vehicle.
There is an opportunity to take advantage of the latent capabilities which exist in many peoples' mobile electronic devices by integrating them with a vehicle's electronic systems. This integration would provide vehicle operators with the best capabilities of both the mobile device and the vehicle, while allowing customers to leverage their investment in the latest mobile device technology by using the mobile device in the vehicle.